LTM is making brainwashed nerd wet dreams come true once again with thereissue of this, a pivotal point in 23 Skidoo's career, disliked bycritics and nearly buried by the group themselves. Each side of theoriginal LP was 23 minutes in length. The first, known as "A SummerRite," was recorded at the first WOMAD festival in July of 1982 (andfeatures David Tibet on Tibetan trumpet), the second was recorded inOctober of 1982 at the Darrington Music College using Gamelaninstruments and later mixed down to form the album side known as "AWinter Ritual." For the CD release, the sides were switched and sidetwo is now known as "Part 1" (tracks 1-5) and side two is now known as"Part 2." A far cry from the loud bass and thunderous dance productionsof 23 Skidoo's most famous works, "A Winter Ritual" is almost equallyas trance-inducing with its usage of Gamelan gongs and bell sounds.It's no surprise that with the engrossing circle of Genesis P-Orridge(who did production on another record) and David Tibet, that it'sstrikingly remeniscent of parts of Psychic TV's Themes 1 (a.k.a. Cold Dark Matter), recorded with Tibet and others and issued with Force the Hand of Chance."Part 2" is more abrasive, with tape loops and various other percussivenoises and effects, carefully mixed together in a mishmosh of soundthat is far from stagnant, weaving through various parts and phrases,ending on the blissful "Healing (For the Strong)," which appeared in aremixed version (as "Healing/Fanfare") on Crepuscule's Operation Twilight compilation, 23 Skidoo's The Gospel Comes to New Guineacollection, and sounds like it was sampled heavily ten years later forCoil's "Nasa Arab." The disc closes with a bonus unreleased track, themonsterous and fantastic 27-minute long "Move Back — Bite Harder,"noted as "Part 3: An Autumn Journey." Longer than each side of therecord, this bit was also recorded live in 1982 on a tour which alsofeatured Cabaret Voltaire and Tuxedomoon. Assembled entirely from tapeloops of noises, sampled radio transmissions, and the Turnbullbrothers' screamings, this was part of a recording made by Crepusculeof the tour, but has never seen the light of day. Unpredictable andcaptivating, it makes for an excellent addition to the rest of thesought after music contained. samples:
Read More
